The Australian Open this year no longer features any American tennis players, with the defeat of Andy Roddick by Stanislas Wawrainka. Seeded eight, Roddick was expected to do better. After the match, he said it obviously wasn't the showing that we wanted, you know, but I'm doing what I can.
Roddick held the hopes of glory for American mens tennis. Since his 2003 U.S. Open victory, no American man has won a major. "It's tough," he said. "I remember last summer when I was catching all the heat for not having an American guy in the top 10 for the first time in 15 years. Didn't really make sense to me that I was the one taking heat when I was the only guy that had been there for the last six years.
Sisters Venus and Serena Williams have won 10 majors between them since 2003, and 20 overall between them. Serena was the 2010 champion in Australia, but couldnt defend her title this year because of a foot injury.
Roddick commented on the injury when he said "Not having the best player in the world at a major would be ... be tough for any country. Obviously we want her healthy as much as possible. You know, she's instantly the best player in the game when she comes back."
Roddick lost to Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka, seeded 19th. He joins his Swiss co-patriot Roger Federer in the final stages of the tournament, with the two playing each other for a shot at continuing onwards towards the grand prize.
Married to model Brooklyn Decker, 28-year-old Roddick has lost out to Roger Federer in four Grand Slam finals in recent years. In Australia this year, Federer has matched Jimmy Connors Open record by reaching his 27th consecutive quarterfinal at a major.
